Netlicks – Professor Creates “Lickable” TV Screen That Imitates Taste of Food

A Japanese professor has created a prototype lickable TV screen that can reportedly imitate the taste of various foods.

Dubbed Taste the TV (TTTV), the prototype was developed by Homei Miyashita, a professor at the prestigious Meiji University in Japan, as a step towards a true multisensory viewing experience. The Intriguing device uses a carousel of 10 flavor canisters that are sprayed in combination to create the taste of a particular food. The cocktail then rolls onto hygienic film over a flat TV screen, and the viewer can sample it. Miyashita believes that this technology can help people connect and interact even over long distances.

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Australian Parrots Are Getting Drunk on Fermented Mangoes

Red-winged parrots in Western Australia’s Kimberley region are reportedly “flying under the influence” and acting bizarrely after feasting on fermented mangoes.

We may be putting on another layer of clothes in the northern hemisphere, but Down Under it’s the end of the mango season, and red-winged parrots are reportedly taking full advantage of the last available orange fruits, even if they’re a little overripe. The problem is that mangoes are particularly sugar-rich, and can produce relatively high levels of alcohol as they ferment. Humans are unlikely to consume fruits that have reached a certain fermentation point because they have a mushy texture and a taste that is no longer considered pleasant. But to red-winged parrots, a mango is a mango, even if the ethanol level in it is likely to get them drunk.

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Meet Shauna Rae, a 22-Year-Old Woman Stuck In an 8-Year-Old’s Body

After surviving brain cancer as a child, 22-year-old Shauna Rae’ growth was stunted and she is now a young woman stuck in the body of an 8-year-old.

Shauna Rae was diagnosed with brain cancer when she was only 6 months old and underwent chemotherapy treatment that saved her life but also caused damage to her pituitary gland, which caused her to stop growing. Although there is no conclusive evidence that chemotherapy caused the severe deformation of Shauna’s pituitary gland, the cancer treatment has been known to occasionally cause endocrine problems in patients. But the young woman managed to get over her problem, and despite looking like a child, she longs to be treated as an adult.

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Female Soldier Arrested for Accepting Marriage Proposal While on Duty

What should have been one of the happiest experiences of her life turned into a nightmare for a Nigerian soldier, after being arrested for accepting a marriage proposal while on duty.

The female soldier’s trouble began when a video of her accepting the marriage proposal of a kneeling young man went viral on social media. Footage shows other members of the Nigerian military witnessing the proposal and then cheering and congratulating the two lovers. However, for the Nigerian Army, things weren’t quite so simple. This wasn’t a simple romantic gesture that had gone viral online, but video proof of a female soldier accepting to marry a trainee in the government’s youth training scheme, which is apparently a big no-no.

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Chianina – The World’s Largest Domesticated Cattle Breed

With a recorded history of at least 2,200 years, the Chianina is among the oldest known cattle breeds. But what it is most famous for is being by far the largest cattle breed on Earth.

Remember Nickers, the giant Australian steer that shocked the world a few years back? You should, photos of this bovine giant towering over normal-sized cattle were everywhere online late in 2018, causing many to wonder if it was some kind of bio-engineered mutant. The only ones that didn’t seem impressed were Italy’s Chianina breeders. They had been producing impressive specimens much larger than Nickers for many generations, so this was nothing special. At the time, they even put out a statement that read “ours is a giant breed, while the Australian steer is an anomaly”.

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People Are Buying “Radioactive” Jewelry to Protect Themselves From 5G

The Netherlands Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ANVS) recently banned the sale of various so-called “anti-radiation” and “anti 5G” wearables that turned out to contain radioactive materials.

From pendants like the Quantum anti-5G to bracelets and even sleep masks, the internet is full of accessories that can allegedly protect wearers from 5G technology. While we currently have no scientific evidence that 5G is harmful to human health, or even that this sort of accessory can shield wearers from 5G signal, there are plenty of people willing to spend their money on them, just to be safe. After all, what’s the worse that can happen? You just end up with a useless product like those anti-5G USB sticks we featured a while back, right? Well, no. Apparently, by wearing this kind of jewelry, you can actually expose your body to demonstrably-harmful levels of radiation.

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The Photo-Like Acrylic Paintings of Johannes Wessmark

Johannes Wessmark is a self-taught Swedish artist who specializes in hyperrealistic acrylic painting that rivals high-resolution photography.

Johannes Wessmark was born in Karlstad, Sweden in 1962. He had a happy childhood, but he wasn’t the most popular of his peers, preferring instead to observe without interacting. Looking back, the Swedish painter remembers some quirks that hint at the attention to detail his art is now world-famous for. When he was 10, he decided to start cleaning his own room, just to make sure it was done exactly the way he wanted. He sorted all of his toys in straight lines and in color order, which was a bit odd for a kid his age. He also drew and painted a lot, and his mother encouraged him to develop his artistic side, which turned out to be a great idea, as Johannes is one of the world’s most respected hyperrealistic artists.

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People Are Leaving Their Car Trunks Open When Parking to Prevent Break-ins

In what can only be described as one of the most counter-intuitive auto break-in prevention methods, people in the Bay Area are leaving their parked cars with their trunks open in order to discourage potential thieves.

San Francisco and Oakland have seen a considerable increase in vehicle break-ins in recent months, and things have reportedly gotten so bad that people would rather leave their cars wide open just to show would-be thieves that they have nothing worth stealing. According to several local news stations, an increasing number of residents have started taking out everything of value from their vehicles, unlocking the doors, and leaving the trunk open as they go about their business. At least way, thieves don’t have to break a window to look for anything valuable in the parked car.

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The Vietnamese Women Who Allegedly Give Off Their Own Perfume

While most of us use have to rely on perfume or other skincare products, two Vietnamese women allegedly give off their own natural floral scent.

Dang Thi Tuoi, a seamstress from Vietnam’s Sóc Trăng province, allegedly has a very intriguing superpower. When rubbed, her skin gives off this sweet, floral scent that could be described as a natural perfume. Dang reportedly discovered her body’s special feature a couple of years ago, while rubbing her hands and feet after a busy day. She suddenly smelled this pleasant odor in the air, and eventually realized it was coming from her own body.

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Talented Hairstylist Creates Spectacular Flower-Shaped Designs

Nguyen Phat Tri, a young hairstylist from Vietnam, has been getting a lot of attention for his eye-catching floral hair designs.

28-year-old Nguyen Phat Tri graduated from An Giang University, with a degree in Biotechnology,  in 2015, but as he always had an inclination for the arts, he decided to go to Ho Chi Minh City to study makeup and hairdressing. That may have seemed like a controversial career choice, but time proved that it was the right one, as young Phat Tri quickly made a name for himself on the Vietnamese hairstyling scene, thanks to some truly innovating techniques and designs.

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Man Drugs Ex-Girlfriend, Opens Her Eyes to unlock Phone and Steal Her Money

A Chinese man was recently convicted of theft after reportedly drugging his ex-girlfriend and then opening her eyes to unlock her smartphone and transfer money from her account to his.

Breakups can be difficult, painful even, but sometimes it’s not just your heart that’s left broken, but your bank account as well. Take this strange case that recently went viral on Chinese social media. A 28-year-old man was sentenced to over three years in prison for drugging his ex-girlfriend and unlocking her phone while she was unconscious in order to deplete her bank account and settle his gambling debts. He managed to transfer 150,000 yuan ($23,500), before making himself scarce and taking her mobile phone with him.

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The Desert of Maine – An Unusual Tourist Attraction

The Desert of Maine, a 40-something-acre patch of sand and silt near the town of Freeport, is a geological oddity, natural wonder, and a warning of what irresponsible land use can create.

The “most famous natural phenomenon in Maine” is actually the result of poor land management over several generations. Although not technically a desert in its own right – the state of Maine gets way too much rain for it to qualify as such – the rolling dunes of sand covering the over 40 acres of land certainly look the part. The sand and silt have been there for at least tens of thousands of years, ever since the glaciers covering Maine, ground rocks into pebbles and pebbles into sand as they receded during the last ice age. But it was human activity that brought it back to the surface over 100 years ago.

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Johatsu – Japan’s Evaporated People

People vanish from their established lives all the time, but nowhere is this phenomenon as prevalent as in Japan, a country that has even devised a term for the phenomenon – “johatsu”.

The most common reasons that drive people to disappear without a trace are exactly the ones you’re probably thinking about – inescapable debts, loveless relationships and Japan’s notoriously harsh work culture. But there are certain cultural factors that make these reasons much more serious in Japan than anywhere else. The shame of burdening one’s family with debt, going through a divorce – which have always been very rare in the Asian country – or even quitting a job is considered unbearable by many Japanese people. This only leaves them with very few options – taking their own lives rather than living with the shame, working themselves to death, or becoming “johatsu”, which literally means evaporating from their lives.

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Cuban Painted Snails – Probably the World’s Most Beautiful Gastropods

Out of the roughly 1,400 species of land snails that call Cuba home, the six species of the genus Polymita, fondly known as painted snails, are without a doubt the most eye-catching.

When it comes to snail per se, there’s probably no beating the spectacular red-and-black contrast of the Malaysian fire snail, but as far as shells go, Cuba’s painted snails are in a class of their own. Just a look at the stunning swirling colors on their shells, and it’s easy to understand why they are considered by many to be the world’s most beautiful snails. However, this flattering title comes with a downside. Because their dazzling shells are so sought after by collectors, all six species of the genus Polymita are now critically endangered.

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Sweet Fishs Café – Thailand’s Crazy Koi Fish Café

Imagine a place where you can enjoy your favorite cup of coffee in the company of dozens of koi fish as they swim through ankle-deep water that covers the entire floor. That’s Thailand’s koi fish café in a nutshell.

Remember Amix Coffee, the “flooded café” of Ho Chi Minh City, where hundreds of decorative fish of all shapes and sizes lived on the water-covered floor as patrons walked among them? It drew a lot of criticism from animal rights activists and closed down after just a couple of months, but if you liked the concept, you’ll be happy to know there’s another flooded café you can visit. Sweet Fishs Café is a unique venue in the Thai city of Khanom, where people can walk through ankle-deep water populated with dozens of koi fish.

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